Il circus has recently left Florida where the sixth stage of the season. In the paddock, however, it is difficult to talk about palms and races given the situation that the reigning champion team is going through. On May 1st, without too much tact given the thirtieth anniversary of Senna's death, Red Bull has announced the departure of coach Adrian Newey. The hot potato that Christian Horner finds himself having to handle is hotter than usual: What will the situation be after Newey's departure, and what does the Red Bull team principal risk if he were to mismanage the separation?
Newey out: ghosts of the past
The greatest risk that Horner will have to stem is told to us by two past events. Newey, in fact, in his "past life" within the circus, was the protagonist of two not exactly insignificant farewells. Both when the English coach separated from Williams, that when he left McLaren, caused such a technical scar that it sent both teams into considerable difficulty. And finding a suitable helmsman in the stormy sea of the top flight when you are abandoned by the best is no easy task.
Here comes the challenge that Horner will have to face: avoid the collapse of the team after the farewell of the most envied technical light in the paddock. The risk of losing technical supremacy comes not only from abandonment, but from the fact that Adrian would become an "enemy" of the winged bull's team. Newey's future is not yet clear, but if the coach - and it seems like this will be the case - should he land in teams that are quickly climbing back up the slopes such as Ferrari and Aston Martin, resisting the competition will no longer be as obvious as it is nowadays. With the short period of gardening granted to the engineer, which will last until the end of the first quarter of 2025, and with the start of the design of the 2026 single-seaters set for January next year, Newey would find himself – regardless of the team – in the ideal position to work on the car straight away which will compete in the new technical era of the premier class.
Red Bull: the post-Newey picture and Horner's future
The situation at Red Bull, however, may be less dramatic than it seems. Newey's merits are certainly notable, but in Formula 1 we must always take into account that it is the collective that makes the difference, and Red Bull has a very respectable one. In fact, he is the technical director Pierre Waché since 2018, e although praise is always paid to Adrian, it would be a mistake to underestimate the French coach's abilities. To create a situation of temporary stability, Horner renewed the contract of Waché, who will work at Red Bull until the end of 2025. The question is whether it will be enough to seal the current group. The most likely situation is that the post-Newey backlash will be felt in the short term, but there's another problem: timing.
If Red Bull manages to take the blow, in fact, it will find itself faced with another challenge: that of face a regulatory change without the man who best interprets this type of situation. At this point, Horner's mission is to restore stability to a team that sees on the horizon the risk of starting to leak a little here and there. And given the precariousness of the team principal, they won't be long in coming measures of the ownership party that wants him out in case of obvious failures.
SOURCE: motorsport.com Italy; formula1a.one
